Following your heart is often a big part of being a creative, and Alyssa tells us about doing exactly that to start her new handmade business.

Alyssa is a big believer in always developing your creativity. That’s why she knew it was time for something different when her love for photography started to fade after running her business for over 12 years.
“I needed something to jumpstart my creativity, I just didn’t know what,” says Alyssa. She had been playing around with polymer clay for a few years, and was asked to teach a class making earrings – not knowing it would start her new journey.
“I never thought I was going to go anywhere with it. But while teaching this class, many encouraged me to start selling my earrings! I was hesitant, but also knew that this was exactly what I needed. So I started making earrings, and made it Instagram-official in November 2019. It was exactly what I needed!”

We asked Alyssa some questions about herself and her handmade earring business.

Tell us about your creative journey. Have you always loved making?

I have always been into art. I was always drawing growing up. I have old sketchbooks from my childhood filled with drawings. Drawing is and always will be my first love. I still draw and very much enjoy it, but it has always been something just for me.

I have many memories of my mum writing, one of my favourites is a poem she made for me based on a little blue man I made out of bag ties I had collected at the grocery store. That little blue man hung on her walls for years and years, which always inspired me to create!

Your creations are colourful, bold, and beautiful. What inspires each design?

I love bold, beautiful colours. In fact, my mission is to showcase the bold, the brave, and the beautiful, and I hope that when someone puts on a pair of my earrings they feel this. I am constantly inspired by what I see around me, especially patterns, colours in nature and the energy of the people around me. You’ll notice that I have named many earrings after my friends and family. It took me just until August this year to name one after my mum because I needed it to really reflect her.

Where does all your earring making happen?

I used to make them on a small table in my living room, but I quickly outgrew it so I moved my stuff to our office that my husband was using to work from home two days a week. We shared that space for some time, but then he started working from home full-time. He’s now found a new place to work from… I may or may not have been the reason for that!

Are all of your earrings made from clay? What do you enjoy most about working with this medium?

All of my earrings are made from clay! I was gifted a soldering kit and I would love to learn metalwork and include some in my pieces, but until then I am trying to perfect the clay art form! There are hard and fast rules to stick to, but only a few – and if you follow those few, the possibilities are endless! I love that about clay, you can do so many things. I am constantly discovering new methods and ideas.